


happy birthday

by monsternights



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Just a little angst, M/M, Steve Rogers's Birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 14:56:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15173135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monsternights/pseuds/monsternights
Summary: "What did you remember, Buck?"Bucky's eyes sparkled. He grinned. "Happy birthday, Stevie."





	happy birthday

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick little bit of fluff I wrote in honor of Steve’s birthday and Chris Evans’s adorable tweet. 100 sure looks good on you, Cap!

Steve lay in bed dozing. It was the early hours of the morning, the sun had not yet risen, but he had been in and out of consciousness for the better part of an hour; stuck somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, too tired to be fully up and his mind too full to rest. Today was going to be a hard day. He’d have to smile and laugh good-naturedly at the multitude of patriotic jokes that would inevitably be thrown at him. _Ugh_.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he felt the mattress dip beside him, covers lifting and a warm body sliding in next to him. Instinct caused him to roll towards the presence in his bed; body curling to meet his bedmate like a parenthesis. He didn't open his eyes, knowing the weight and sound and smell of the person next to him like his own shadow.

"Stevie," a gentle voice whispered.

His eyes fluttered open.

Bucky lay in a position that mirrored Steve's. His hands were curled loosely against his chest. Steve's eyes widened at the soft and open expression on Bucky’s face.

"Hey, Buck." He crooked a small smile as his heart beat sped up. Bucky being beside him like this brought back waves of old memories—of rooftops and Lucky Strikes and lazy Sunday mornings. It made his throat ache.

"Everything okay?"

Bucky smiled. "I wanted to come see you—to tell you something I remembered.” He paused, frowning. “It can wait until later though. I can leave if you would like some privacy." Doubt clouded his expression, fear that he had overstepped some invisible boundary. Steve's heart leapt.

"No! No don't go. I'm glad you're here." He reached a hand out when Bucky made a move to sit up and he brushed his knuckles against the back of Bucky's flesh hand. "I always like it when you're around," he said quietly. Bucky grasped Steve's hand in his own.

"I do too." Steve felt warmth blossom in his chest.

They were quiet for a stretch of time. Just watching each other, letting the silence wrap around them like a blanket, only the sound of their breathing filling the air.

"What did you remember, Buck?"

Bucky's eyes sparkled. He grinned. "Happy birthday, Stevie."

Steve inhaled sharply. Tears sprang to his eyes.

Bucky had had trouble with recovering memories, lately. It had taken him months to gain what small scraps remained. He had eventually asked Steve to hold off on filling in the blanks for him. He said that the memories stuck better if he remembered them on his own, using Steve to check the accuracy of the grainy flashes that were resurfacing.

Steve hadn't planned on telling Bucky it was his birthday, even though he knew it would probably upset him when he found out he missed it. He just didn’t have the energy to pretend that he was okay and didn’t feel utterly hollowed out. He had asked the rest of the team not to make a fuss over it.

"Oh...Steve. I didn't mean to make you cry." Bucky shifted closer and cupped Steve's face with his flesh hand. Steve smiled and let out a watery laugh.

"No, I'm okay. I just...it means so much to me, Buck. Thank you for telling me."

_I love you. I couldn’t bear to spend another birthday without you._

Bucky's hand was still cupping Steve's cheek. “Of course, Steve.” His thumb brushed over Steve's bottom lip.

Something in the air shifted. Steve thought the way that Bucky's eyes darkened surely was a trick of the light. His pulse fluttered. Bucky brought his other hand up to press against the side of Steve's neck, cool and smooth. Bucky leaned closer, so close that Steve could feel his breath ghost across his face.

"I remembered something else," his eyes darted down to Steve's mouth and his heart was hammering because surely Bucky didn't mean what he thought. His broken heart was playing tricks on him. He must have misunderstood.

"What's that, Buck?" Steve's voice was so faint he was sure even Bucky’s enhanced hearing barely picked it up. Bucky chuckled softly. And then he was kissing Steve.

It only took Steve a moment to recover, before he eagerly pressed his lips back against Bucky's. He gasped sharply at the feel of hands grasping his shoulders and yanking him flush against Bucky's body, a relieved moan falling from the other man's mouth. He slid his own hands around Bucky's waist, fingers slipping beneath the fabric of his shirt and desperately clutching at the muscled planes of his back.

They separated—just far enough for Steve to press his forehead against Bucky's, heart in his throat, trying to calm his breath.

"You—you remembered? You remember us?" Steve's voice was wrecked.

" _God_. God. Stevie-doll I was so afraid that I dreamed it. That it was just me imagining what I wanted to be and not what had _been_."

Steve pulled Bucky back in, kissing him harder and deeper, trying to convey every single feeling through this connection. There was too much to say, too much to get out at once and the want inside of him was a cavernous well that was spilling from his every pore and he was helpless to stop it. Every press of Bucky’s lips and nips of his teeth and swipe of his tongue soothed over the thousands of little hurts that Steve had been carrying around since losing Bucky.

They lost a little time like that, kissing and caressing each other.

Bucky smiled against his mouth as they eventually slowed to simply sharing even, warm breaths and bodies tangled together. Steve’s eyelids drooped with exhaustion as reality caught up to him. He yawned.

There was time for other things, to explore and relearn each other’s bodies, but for now Steve settled into Bucky’s embrace. He felt a kiss pressed into his hair.

“You know,” he heard Bucky mumble, “They say 100 is the new 20, Stevie.”


End file.
